Electrical connectors are often used to join together two sections of electrical cable, for example, connections to motors from a motor control center. When connecting two sections of electrical cable, the metal shield and outer protective sheath must be removed to expose the underlying conductor. A connector is installed on the end of each cable that is to be joined and the connectors are then mated to complete the installation. Typically, the connectors are not insulated and require a cover to prevent grounding or injury to personnel.
Many techniques are currently known for covering cable connectors. Wire splice closures have been used to protect multi-conductor cable connections. Typically, a wire splice closure includes an enclosure filled with an encapsulant that fully surrounds and seals the splice. The encapsulants are usually provided in a fluid state and are poured into the enclosure after the enclosure has been fitted over the cable splice. The encapsulant may be forced into the enclosure under pressure so that the encapsulant fully surrounds the cable splice and fills the interstices between conductors. The encapsulant then cures to a gel-like consistency to effectively seal the splice and isolate it from the surrounding environment.
Various other prior art insulating covers and closures exist for housing and protecting spliced wires and cable connectors. A first group of prior art closures are formed with separate top and bottom portions. Two-piece closures are oftentimes less convenient to use in the field, and are less convenient to manufacture. Moreover, a typical two-piece closure is assembled by installing one part directly on top of the other part. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, this type of assembly may require the application of significantly large forces to the respective halves of the closure, thus making installation more difficult. Another group of prior art closures are formed as one-piece components. The two halves of the closure are pivotable with respect to one another about a hinge until such halves contact one another to complete the closure.
Other cable splice covers and enclosures include two half-shells which form the upper and lower sections of the splice enclosure. Examples of this type of enclosure are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,550,965 and 4,423,918. Still other cable splice enclosures are known which include two-part enclosure housings which are assembled around the splice. Examples of this type of enclosure are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,138,657; 3,992,569 and 4,554,401.
In order to isolate the interior, the ends of the enclosure must be sealed. End seals generally fall into two categories. The first type of end seals which may be used in combination with splice enclosures are rigid end seals. These end seals are clamped in sealed fashion to spaced apart locations on the cable on either side of the splice. The splice enclosure is then sealably secured to the end seals at each end thereof. Rigid end seals of this type provide an effective technique for sealably closing the opposed ends of a splice enclosure so as to resist moisture intrusion. An example of rigid end seals used in combination with a cable splice enclosure is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,245,133 and 5,251,373. While extremely effective, these rigid end seals are multi-component devices requiring time-consuming and skilled installation.
A second approach is to employ sealing collars or dams about the cable on either side of the splice. Each sealing dam may be formed, for example, by wrapping mastic tape around the cable to form a buildup of mastic about which the ends of the enclosure may be positioned. The mastic provides good sealing contact with the cable as well as with the enclosure. The mastic tape, while sufficiently viscous to permit wrapping and positioning about the cable, does exhibit some degree of flow. While this permits good compressive engagement to be made, it does make securing the cover around the dams more difficult. The enclosure is typically secured by applying a compression strap around the enclosure about the sealing dams as well as at other locations. However, compression of the straps may tend to cause movement of the mastic tape. In order to prevent this tendency, the user must secure the sealing dams to the ends of the enclosure. This is typically accomplished by wrapping the ends of the enclosure and the cable adjacent the sealing dams with a sealing tape. As can be appreciated, this requires additional steps as well as additional materials which must be available to the installer. Furthermore, the integrity of such a tape-wrapped assembly is extremely craft-sensitive and is difficult to construct for longer cable splice extents.
It is therefore desirable to provide an insulated cover for an electrical connector, which can be easily applied and which provides an adequate seal to prevent dirt from coming in contact with the connector.